Loyola Greyhounds 2022

[TheBigIguana]

I have a couple of main thoughts on the game:

The first is simply they'll be going nowhere if they're that bad at the specialist positions all season. Face offs were bad, but that will happen from time to time, what concerned me more was how often it generated offense for Maryland. Goalie play needs to be better. Shafer was heroic late last year but his tendency to play more with his body than his stick popped up again Saturday. In big games he has to be big too. Sub 50% is rarely going to be enough.

Second is I just think too many people are being rotated in on offense. The attack had by my count 6 guys get minutes while the game was close (Olmstead, Lindley, Kamish, James, Binney, Lindsey) and there must have been at least 10 guys on o middle (every attackmen but Lindley and maybe Binney took a shift through the box plus at least Higgins, Seay, Poitras and Bateman). I don't think that is going to work. To me this team lacks dodgers and that means they'll need to be confident in their ball movement and ability to play with and off of one another. I have to think that's harder to do when who is where changes possession to possession. It feels to me like they've got a lot of good players who are close together ability wise and instead of making a tough decision on who gets minutes they've just made no decision and tried to play everyone. Less might be more.

There are other issues, sloppy clears, questionable pick and roll defense among them but the above two stood out to me. Hopefully a step forward Saturday.

[laxbro11]

I have a couple of main thoughts on the game:

The first is simply they'll be going nowhere if they're that bad at the specialist positions all season. Face offs were bad, but that will happen from time to time, what concerned me more was how often it generated offense for Maryland. Goalie play needs to be better. Shafer was heroic late last year but his tendency to play more with his body than his stick popped up again Saturday. In big games he has to be big too. Sub 50% is rarely going to be enough.

Second is I just think too many people are being rotated in on offense. The attack had by my count 6 guys get minutes while the game was close (Olmstead, Lindley, Kamish, James, Binney, Lindsey) and there must have been at least 10 guys on o middle (every attackmen but Lindley and maybe Binney took a shift through the box plus at least Higgins, Seay, Poitras and Bateman). I don't think that is going to work. To me this team lacks dodgers and that means they'll need to be confident in their ball movement and ability to play with and off of one another. I have to think that's harder to do when who is where changes possession to possession. It feels to me like they've got a lot of good players who are close together ability wise and instead of making a tough decision on who gets minutes they've just made no decision and tried to play everyone. Less might be more.

There are other issues, sloppy clears, questionable pick and roll defense among them but the above two stood out to me. Hopefully a step forward Saturday.

+2

Middies being able to dodge has been a problem the last 3 years. Teams know that our middies will not beat them and they will not slide from Lindley or Olmstead. It may have to be that Lindley and Olmstead create and draw the slides, and let the younger guys finish

Our defense did not play as a unit it playedbe as 4 poles and two ssdms. Rezanka, Sally and Benus played like they have never played the game before, they were slow and did not get the job done. I know that SSDMs will get beat and will give up goals, but this was beyond bad

[GreyingHound]

I agree with nearly every point about Saturday's game that has been made so far, so I don't have much original to add. As I drove home from the game, I tried to find some bright spots in what I had just witnessed. There weren't many. I rewatched the game on TV on Saturday night and picked up on some different perspectives and got to hear Mark and Joe's commentary. I also checked out the game stats.

A few thoughts:

• I agree with the resignation that our middies could not beat their man, with one promising exception. Poitras routinely beat Fairman, and scored twice as a result. It seemed he could blow by Fairman at will.
• Seay had a really good game wearing Swindell's old number 13 and gave us some production like Peter used to. Seay had been out of practice for 10 days because of a positive test, so his performance was especially impressive.
• Wyers was seriously hobbled by his knee injury. It was painful just watching him try to keep up with MD's multiple weapons. I hope he heals quickly.
• We did not commit a single penalty. (Gotta find a positive somewhere.)
• The faceoff and ground balls stats pretty much explain the outcome, along with the narrative about the complete lack of team defense. We had the same number of turnovers as MD, although it sure didn't feel that way, and we had only one failed clear.
• I agree with the comments made about running so many offensive players that we couldn't establish any kind of rhythm. I'm not going second-guess the coaches. I just hope they find the right formula soon.
• Finally, MD is likely the best team in country right now. They were better than us in every aspect of the game. It's fair to give the Terps as much credit for beating us as we're giving ourselves for losing.

I'm hoping we'll see a much better result next Saturday. The weather is looking to be great for lacrosse again.

[jrn19]

I agree with nearly every point about Saturday's game that has been made so far, so I don't have much original to add. As I drove home from the game, I tried to find some bright spots in what I had just witnessed. There weren't many. I rewatched the game on TV on Saturday night and picked up on some different perspectives and got to hear Mark and Joe's commentary. I also checked out the game stats.

A few thoughts:

• I agree with the resignation that our middies could not beat their man, with one promising exception. Poitras routinely beat Fairman, and scored twice as a result. It seemed he could blow by Fairman at will.
• Seay had a really good game wearing Swindell's old number 13 and gave us some production like Peter used to. Seay had been out of practice for 10 days because of a positive test, so his performance was especially impressive.
• Wyers was seriously hobbled by his knee injury. It was painful just watching him try to keep up with MD's multiple weapons. I hope he heals quickly.
• We did not commit a single penalty. (Gotta find a positive somewhere.)
• The faceoff and ground balls stats pretty much explain the outcome, along with the narrative about the complete lack of team defense. We had the same number of turnovers as MD, although it sure didn't feel that way, and we had only one failed clear.
• I agree with the comments made about running so many offensive players that we couldn't establish any kind of rhythm. I'm not going second-guess the coaches. I just hope they find the right formula soon.
• Finally, MD is likely the best team in country right now. They were better than us in every aspect of the game. It's fair to give the Terps as much credit for beating us as we're giving ourselves for losing.

I'm hoping we'll see a much better result next Saturday. The weather is looking to be great for lacrosse again.

He beat Fairman once, on his first goal. That was it. Wouldn’t say it was “routine”

[GreyingHound]

I agree with nearly every point about Saturday's game that has been made so far, so I don't have much original to add. As I drove home from the game, I tried to find some bright spots in what I had just witnessed. There weren't many. I rewatched the game on TV on Saturday night and picked up on some different perspectives and got to hear Mark and Joe's commentary. I also checked out the game stats.

A few thoughts:

• I agree with the resignation that our middies could not beat their man, with one promising exception. Poitras routinely beat Fairman, and scored twice as a result. It seemed he could blow by Fairman at will.
• Seay had a really good game wearing Swindell's old number 13 and gave us some production like Peter used to. Seay had been out of practice for 10 days because of a positive test, so his performance was especially impressive.
• Wyers was seriously hobbled by his knee injury. It was painful just watching him try to keep up with MD's multiple weapons. I hope he heals quickly.
• We did not commit a single penalty. (Gotta find a positive somewhere.)
• The faceoff and ground balls stats pretty much explain the outcome, along with the narrative about the complete lack of team defense. We had the same number of turnovers as MD, although it sure didn't feel that way, and we had only one failed clear.
• I agree with the comments made about running so many offensive players that we couldn't establish any kind of rhythm. I'm not going second-guess the coaches. I just hope they find the right formula soon.
• Finally, MD is likely the best team in country right now. They were better than us in every aspect of the game. It's fair to give the Terps as much credit for beating us as we're giving ourselves for losing.

I'm hoping we'll see a much better result next Saturday. The weather is looking to be great for lacrosse again.

He beat Fairman once, on his first goal. That was it. Wouldn’t say it was “routine”

Oh man, are you going to make me undelete the game from my DVR and watch it for a third time?

I honestly felt like Poitras was able to lose Fairman pretty easily, and thought he did so 4 or 5 times. Didn't he slip around Fairman for both of his unassisted goals?

Regardless, the Hounds are going to need to find a way to get opposing defenses rotating if they're going to have more offensive success. Last Saturday was humbling in that regard. Toward the end of last season, Seth Higgins was emerging as a dodging threat, but he was neutralized by MD. His older brother certainly had a monster game for the Terps though.

[kramerica.inc]

Loyola was banged up on defense and you could see it with Wyers. He was good on ball and when he didn't have to move as much. He looked like he had a decent first few steps. His first slides were ok. His recoveries from that first slide, looked sluggish. Partly due to the injury, partly to UMD having really solid sticks. I think they/he will do better against teams that don't move the ball as well at UMD, and as he gets healthy. In the meantime, it will be good to build that depth and experience leaning on some other guys defensively. The Terp's unselfishness and ball movement was impressive, for certain.

Liked what Toomey did with the goalies under the circumstances. Sam did ok, but wasn't getting mush help. Saw a few shots well and made the saves. But he did rely on his body too much against such good shooters. I liked that Toomey went tot he bench early. No sense in letting him get shelled, he gave some other guys a shot, looking for a spark, and both showed they are capable. I expect Sam to start this week, unless Charley is seeing something in practice we don't know about.

Clearing for the first time out looked good. We found the open man. Not a minor thing the first time out.

Offensively, our attack needs to can their shots. Seay and Poitras looked like real bright spots. 10 different guys with shots. Liked that we had 5 guys with at least 3 shots. That means we are spreading the ball around. Just need to score a few more. And get EMO up to at least 50%. All correctable. But credit to the Terps, getting us uncomfortable, making us rush some, and they did a nice job always contesting shots.

I think the Hounds will improve in the next few games.

[houndace1]

https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ana ... story.html

Enough said.

[jrn19]

I agree with nearly every point about Saturday's game that has been made so far, so I don't have much original to add. As I drove home from the game, I tried to find some bright spots in what I had just witnessed. There weren't many. I rewatched the game on TV on Saturday night and picked up on some different perspectives and got to hear Mark and Joe's commentary. I also checked out the game stats.

A few thoughts:

• I agree with the resignation that our middies could not beat their man, with one promising exception. Poitras routinely beat Fairman, and scored twice as a result. It seemed he could blow by Fairman at will.
• Seay had a really good game wearing Swindell's old number 13 and gave us some production like Peter used to. Seay had been out of practice for 10 days because of a positive test, so his performance was especially impressive.
• Wyers was seriously hobbled by his knee injury. It was painful just watching him try to keep up with MD's multiple weapons. I hope he heals quickly.
• We did not commit a single penalty. (Gotta find a positive somewhere.)
• The faceoff and ground balls stats pretty much explain the outcome, along with the narrative about the complete lack of team defense. We had the same number of turnovers as MD, although it sure didn't feel that way, and we had only one failed clear.
• I agree with the comments made about running so many offensive players that we couldn't establish any kind of rhythm. I'm not going second-guess the coaches. I just hope they find the right formula soon.
• Finally, MD is likely the best team in country right now. They were better than us in every aspect of the game. It's fair to give the Terps as much credit for beating us as we're giving ourselves for losing.

I'm hoping we'll see a much better result next Saturday. The weather is looking to be great for lacrosse again.

He beat Fairman once, on his first goal. That was it. Wouldn’t say it was “routine”

Oh man, are you going to make me undelete the game from my DVR and watch it for a third time?

I honestly felt like Poitras was able to lose Fairman pretty easily, and thought he did so 4 or 5 times. Didn't he slip around Fairman for both of his unassisted goals?

Regardless, the Hounds are going to need to find a way to get opposing defenses rotating if they're going to have more offensive success. Last Saturday was humbling in that regard. Toward the end of last season, Seth Higgins was emerging as a dodging threat, but he was neutralized by MD. His older brother certainly had a monster game for the Terps though.

No need for that, lol.

Second goal was on Puglise. Similarly very nice dodge; and Poitras had a good game, but I didn’t see Fairman get beat again after the 1st goal. But could be wrong.

[GreyingHound]

Second goal was on Puglise. Similarly very nice dodge; and Poitras had a good game, but I didn’t see Fairman get beat again after the 1st goal. But could be wrong.

Ah ok. Got it. I should have said "he beat his defender," and not necessarily Fairman. The one time I noticed who the defender was, it was Fairman, but easily could have been someone else the other times.

It was nice to see Poitras looking like he did in 2020 again. I heard at the game that he was playing through injury most of last season.

[Wheels]

Second goal was on Puglise. Similarly very nice dodge; and Poitras had a good game, but I didn’t see Fairman get beat again after the 1st goal. But could be wrong.

Ah ok. Got it. I should have said "he beat his defender," and not necessarily Fairman. The one time I noticed who the defender was, it was Fairman, but easily could have been someone else the other times.

It was nice to see Poitras looking like he did in 2020 again. I heard at the game that he was playing through injury most of last season.

Poitras, Higgins, and Binney seem like they can run past defenders. Kamish didn't stand out, but it was his first game back in a while.

Olmstead had a hard time beating whoever guarded him. Fairman stoned him up top. The Terps had prepared to bump Makar up if Olmstead ran through the box, but they didn't end up doing that much at all. They let their LSMs and even shorties cover him. If anything concerns you as a Loyola fan, it's that. I'd think about putting him back down by GLE, closer to goal where he can use his experience and IQ.

[Loyolalax]

As a recent grad from Loyola and the program, what concerned me the most was the lack of physical play both offensively and defensively.
Defensively, you can see that wyers is hurt and struggling, but he was still better than most out there. What I saw out there against MD was that they had no cohesiveness, no synergy with the defensive unit. IMO it lies with SSDMs. There there are just as good or better D mids on this team that need to get more runs. And that is what the locker room is feeling. that the right guys are not on the field.

Fogo, Bailey will be fine, and Eric will only get better with more time. no concerns here

Goalie. I like that Coach switched things up. It motivated Sam last year, maybe it will motivate him this year. But I will not be surprised if Luke starts over Sam. Both are solid goalies when they are seeing the ball

Offense. Aiden and Kevin need to take control and be the leaders out there. I agree, Aiden needs to be back at attack. He is not a downhill dodger. Midfield, we need to find our 6 and run with them. They need to be more physical, there are not a threat to dodge. Adam, Riley and Evan I would say our our top middies. Move the ball and it at least hit the crosse when passing, Our passing was short, we had to bend down to catch, which allowed the D to catch up. And we need to be more efficient with EMO

We can beat Hopkins, Rutgers, Towson, Lafayette, give Duke a game. I predict 5-1 if we come together as a team and start playing that way. More than likely 4-2, at worst 3-3.

[laxbro11]

As a recent grad from Loyola and the program, what concerned me the most was the lack of physical play both offensively and defensively.
Defensively, you can see that wyers is hurt and struggling, but he was still better than most out there. What I saw out there against MD was that they had no cohesiveness, no synergy with the defensive unit. IMO it lies with SSDMs. There there are just as good or better D mids on this team that need to get more runs. And that is what the locker room is feeling. that the right guys are not on the field.

Fogo, Bailey will be fine, and Eric will only get better with more time. no concerns here

Goalie. I like that Coach switched things up. It motivated Sam last year, maybe it will motivate him this year. But I will not be surprised if Luke starts over Sam. Both are solid goalies when they are seeing the ball

Offense. Aiden and Kevin need to take control and be the leaders out there. I agree, Aiden needs to be back at attack. He is not a downhill dodger. Midfield, we need to find our 6 and run with them. They need to be more physical, there are not a threat to dodge. Adam, Riley and Evan I would say our our top middies. Move the ball and it at least hit the crosse when passing, Our passing was short, we had to bend down to catch, which allowed the D to catch up. And we need to be more efficient with EMO

We can beat Hopkins, Rutgers, Towson, Lafayette, give Duke a game. I predict 5-1 if we come together as a team and start playing that way. More than likely 4-2, at worst 3-3.

Loyolalax Coach Toomey was concerned about the psche of the locker room. What would your take be?

If we do not go at least 50/50 on face offs and we do not win the GB battle, it could be a long day at Homewood

[loyola2025]

As a recent grad from Loyola and the program, what concerned me the most was the lack of physical play both offensively and defensively.
Defensively, you can see that wyers is hurt and struggling, but he was still better than most out there. What I saw out there against MD was that they had no cohesiveness, no synergy with the defensive unit. IMO it lies with SSDMs. There there are just as good or better D mids on this team that need to get more runs. And that is what the locker room is feeling. that the right guys are not on the field.

Fogo, Bailey will be fine, and Eric will only get better with more time. no concerns here

Goalie. I like that Coach switched things up. It motivated Sam last year, maybe it will motivate him this year. But I will not be surprised if Luke starts over Sam. Both are solid goalies when they are seeing the ball

Offense. Aiden and Kevin need to take control and be the leaders out there. I agree, Aiden needs to be back at attack. He is not a downhill dodger. Midfield, we need to find our 6 and run with them. They need to be more physical, there are not a threat to dodge. Adam, Riley and Evan I would say our our top middies. Move the ball and it at least hit the crosse when passing, Our passing was short, we had to bend down to catch, which allowed the D to catch up. And we need to be more efficient with EMO

We can beat Hopkins, Rutgers, Towson, Lafayette, give Duke a game. I predict 5-1 if we come together as a team and start playing that way. More than likely 4-2, at worst 3-3.

Loyolalax Coach Toomey was concerned about the psche of the locker room. What would your take be?

If we do not go at least 50/50 on face offs and we do not win the GB battle, it could be a long day at Homewood

My son says that there is some uneasiness... Players are concerned, The preseason talk was championship weekend. I think we will be more of a 3-3 going into league play. And will struggle with Georgetown, Lehigh and Army.

[kramerica.inc]

As a recent grad from Loyola and the program, what concerned me the most was the lack of physical play both offensively and defensively.
Defensively, you can see that wyers is hurt and struggling, but he was still better than most out there. What I saw out there against MD was that they had no cohesiveness, no synergy with the defensive unit. IMO it lies with SSDMs. There there are just as good or better D mids on this team that need to get more runs. And that is what the locker room is feeling. that the right guys are not on the field.

Fogo, Bailey will be fine, and Eric will only get better with more time. no concerns here

Goalie. I like that Coach switched things up. It motivated Sam last year, maybe it will motivate him this year. But I will not be surprised if Luke starts over Sam. Both are solid goalies when they are seeing the ball

Offense. Aiden and Kevin need to take control and be the leaders out there. I agree, Aiden needs to be back at attack. He is not a downhill dodger. Midfield, we need to find our 6 and run with them. They need to be more physical, there are not a threat to dodge. Adam, Riley and Evan I would say our our top middies. Move the ball and it at least hit the crosse when passing, Our passing was short, we had to bend down to catch, which allowed the D to catch up. And we need to be more efficient with EMO

We can beat Hopkins, Rutgers, Towson, Lafayette, give Duke a game. I predict 5-1 if we come together as a team and start playing that way. More than likely 4-2, at worst 3-3.

Loyolalax Coach Toomey was concerned about the psche of the locker room. What would your take be?

If we do not go at least 50/50 on face offs and we do not win the GB battle, it could be a long day at Homewood

My son says that there is some uneasiness... Players are concerned, The preseason talk was championship weekend. I think we will be more of a 3-3 going into league play. And will struggle with Georgetown, Lehigh and Army.

There should be some uneasiness. That's how you know you have a good group. A loss like that should never sit well with true competitors. And will never sit well in that program. Expectations don't need to change. But the execution does. And that needs to come from the individual players. How do you get better today?

[Peter Brown]

As a recent grad from Loyola and the program, what concerned me the most was the lack of physical play both offensively and defensively.
Defensively, you can see that wyers is hurt and struggling, but he was still better than most out there. What I saw out there against MD was that they had no cohesiveness, no synergy with the defensive unit. IMO it lies with SSDMs. There there are just as good or better D mids on this team that need to get more runs. And that is what the locker room is feeling. that the right guys are not on the field.

Fogo, Bailey will be fine, and Eric will only get better with more time. no concerns here

Goalie. I like that Coach switched things up. It motivated Sam last year, maybe it will motivate him this year. But I will not be surprised if Luke starts over Sam. Both are solid goalies when they are seeing the ball

Offense. Aiden and Kevin need to take control and be the leaders out there. I agree, Aiden needs to be back at attack. He is not a downhill dodger. Midfield, we need to find our 6 and run with them. They need to be more physical, there are not a threat to dodge. Adam, Riley and Evan I would say our our top middies. Move the ball and it at least hit the crosse when passing, Our passing was short, we had to bend down to catch, which allowed the D to catch up. And we need to be more efficient with EMO

We can beat Hopkins, Rutgers, Towson, Lafayette, give Duke a game. I predict 5-1 if we come together as a team and start playing that way. More than likely 4-2, at worst 3-3.

I’m not asking you to reveal anything, but it seems to the naked eye this team has at least one very good midfielder who can get by most defenders and that’s Higgins. I’m not his dad, or brother, and have never met the kid. But every time I see him play, he seems to get a few steps on any defender. I don’t know if his shot is suspect, or his decision-making after a dodge regrettable, but he definitely has the ability to separate.

[GreyingHound]

I’m not asking you to reveal anything, but it seems to the naked eye this team has at least one very good midfielder who can get by most defenders and that’s Higgins. I’m not his dad, or brother, and have never met the kid. But every time I see him play, he seems to get a few steps on any defender. I don’t know if his shot is suspect, or his decision-making after a dodge regrettable, but he definitely has the ability to separate.

I'm also a huge fan of Higgins. Early last season I could see his potential clearly, but he seemed to lack confidence and was a bit tentative. Completely understandable for a freshman. As the season went on, his confidence seemed to grow. By the end of the season, we was making big plays and contributing points.

Against MD, he seemed to have a regressed a bit, but I can chalk that up to it being our first game of the season and the fact that we were playing the #1 team in the country. He has great size, speed, and athleticism. I think we will see great things from Higgins, and I expect he will be on the field quite a bit this season.

[Loyolalax]

I like Higgins also. Poitras is solid from the midfield.

To answer greyinghound. This has been going on for three weeks. These are experienced players. Enough excuses. Time to play or the coaches need to move on. Next man up and see what they can. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results

[Peter Brown]

I like Higgins also. Poitras is solid from the midfield.

To answer greyinghound. This has been going on for three weeks. These are experienced players. Enough excuses. Time to play or the coaches need to move on. Next man up and see what they can. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results

Looking at the YouTube highlights. The defense and SSDM’s just weren’t in sync. At all. No one switched well on picks.

Couple that with a brutal day at face off, not gonna win.

[Laxfan01]

While last weeks lost was certainly concerning, Maryland will score 15+ on probably every team they play. That’s probably the toughest opening game you can ask for-they are very well coached and every guy on that team is talented and they play their roles very well. I would expect some changes this weekend-the degree of which I don’t know. But I trust our staff and what they see in practice. Hopkins will be a good test but I like this group on paper. If we can be competitive at the X and give our offense some possessions then I think we’ll be in a good spot. Offensively they will not present nearly the same challenges as Maryland, both schematically and from a talent standpoint. Regardless, playing a tough schedule early on will be very beneficial in April and May. Coach knows what he has with this group. All that we can do is have faith in the staff and in that locker room-they’ve done some very good things when it matters, and while there may be some ups and downs I still really like this group.

[kramerica.inc]

People, myself included, have been underestimating just how good UMD is this year. The loss of JB was no problem for them.
How people still have UVA ahead of UMD in some polls is mind boggling. Imagine that will change as more people see them in person. UMD passes the eyeball/sniff/whatever test you have. They are clearly the class of the nation. But that said, I still think anyone can win it all. Crazy things happen in May.